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DS2107-SOUTHWARK-ANTI-RACISM-Chartera-1.Pdf The Diocese of DS(21)07 Southwark DICOESAN SYNOD RACIAL JUSTICE, BLM & SOUTHWARK ANTI RACISM CHARTER The Ven Rosemarie Mallett, the Archdeacon of Croydon, to move that: “this Synod wholeheartedly endorse the Diocese of Southwark Anti-Racism Charter and it’s adoption throughout the Diocese.” 1. As a Diocese, we are very aware of the way in which the concerns of Black Lives Matter touches every aspect of church life, our leadership and governance and our buildings and their history. We believe that the local and national church should play a leading role in changing our structures to ensure they value and represent people of all ethnicities and backgrounds. Our Diocesan Vision and the five marks of mission are rooted in not only proclamation and teaching but also in seeking to transform unjust structures in the world and in the church. We acknowledge that whatever is done must have real outcomes with positive and intentional action to redress the imbalances. 2. After the publication of the 2000 report on institutional racism in the structures of the Diocese of Southwark, we committed ourselves to implementing the report findings and work to address racism and justice. We have done so through education and training, and through our diocesan management oversight structures such as the Diocesan Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns Committee (DMEACC) and the local action focus of the Episcopal Area Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns (MEAC) committees. This work continues but there needs to be renewed urgency to our actions amid rising concern about insufficient progress towards racial justice, equality and inclusion in our organisation. 3. BLM has catalysed society, and the wider church in this country, to confront the sinful reality of persistent racism and to intensify the long overdue work to bring about racial justice and reconciliation. 4. As a diocese we recommit ourselves to this transforming work to become an anti-racist organisation. We do this by embedding key principles in our diocesan strategic response to issues of racism, racial inequality and racial injustice and indifference. The Diocese is committed to challenging racism in our church and the wider society, recognises the need to create a more diverse church and is fully committed: • To learn more about the way past and present church collusion in institutional racism and ethno-cultural differentiation continues to impact on United Kingdom Minority Ethnic (UKME - we no longer use the BAME acronym) community members participation in the church. This will include relevant work on the history and contributions of diverse people to our church as well as the history of our buildings and memorials. • To create safe and trusting spaces to have honest and open conversations about race and racism, racial inequality, power and privilege, and actively listen to the voices of those impacted and affected by the issues, from UKME and white communities • To provide training and mentoring and opportunities for leadership development for people from diverse heritages. • To work to close any gaps that exist between UKME and white experiences of engagement with the diocese • To engage our parishes and equip them to constructively engage with the Charter and the practical change it hopes to bring about. • To collaborate with our training institutions and schools on issues of diversity and inclusion 5. This focus on anti-racism and concomitant strategies for enhancing Ethnic Diversity and Inclusion fit within our Diocesan Vision of ensuring the fruitful future of a church for all which reflects our diverse community in membership and leadership as we seek to transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation. We acknowledge that whatever is done must have real outcomes with positive and intentional action to redress inequities. 6. This Charter allows us to put our own house in order as we work alongside others in civil society and government institutions to make the necessary changes in our society. 7. The Charter was discussed at the Diocesan Council of Trustees who overwhelmingly endorsed its recommendation to the Diocesan Synod. Synod members will be given a presentation alongside this paper and accompanying Charter. The Ven Rosemarie Mallett, the Archdeacon of Croydon, to move that: “this Synod wholeheartedly endorse the Diocese of Southwark Anti-Racism Charter and it’s adoption throughout the Diocese.” The Ven Dr Rosemarie Mallett Archdeacon of Croydon March 2021 The Diocese of Southwark Anti-Racism Charter Strategies for enhancing Ethnic Diversity and Inclusion There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28 2020 is a year that will not be forgotten for generations to come. The worldwide COVID19 coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc upon the health and economic well-being of people, communities and countries large and small, developed and lesser developed, in ways that will be felt for years to come. It also highlighted the structural inequalities that exist between and within counties, as poorer more marginalised communities have been disproportionally affected by the impact of the virus1. At the same time, the spectre of racism and racial injustice was horrifically displayed on TV screens throughout the world in late May 2020, as viewers watched the callous killing of African American George Floyd, over a period of 8.46 minutes at the knee of a white Minnesota policeman. His cruelty and the lack of action from those around clearly demonstrated the racism that still pervades our world. Centuries after the historic trafficking of humans from Africa, their enslavement and the development of eugenics and racial stratification according to skin colour we still see this mechanism for discrimination and inequality in our world. Being anti-racist is not the same as simply not being racist. It is not enough as a diocese to not be racist but to actively counter, disrupt and oppose racial injustice. This isn’t an easy task, it takes introspection as well as continued intentional action and is not a static description of ourselves. Despite our Christian injunction to believe and behave as if we are all one in Christ, the deep inequalities that exist between and within groups of people of different colours, cultures and ethnicities persists, and persists within churches also2. As Ibram X Kendi writes “One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an antiracist. There is no in-between safe space of “not racist.” The claim of “not racist” neutrality is a mask for racism”.3 1 In the UK, people form minority ethnic communities have proportionally higher death and infection rates, in part due to their socio-economic and health status, they are more likely to have underlying health conditions or work in key worker or front line roles or live in intergenerational houses thus being more exposed to the virus. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/whyhavebla ckandsouthasianpeoplebeenhithardestbycovid19/2020-12-14 2 In 2006 the General Synod of the Church of England issued an apology, acknowledging the part the Church itself played, through the actions of individuals and agencies, in perpetuating and profiting from historic slavery and the exploitation of and discrimination against people based on the colour of their skin. The General Synod voted in February 2020 to apologise for racism experienced by United Kingdom Minority Ethnic (UKME ) people in the Church of England since the arrival of the Windrush Generation. Speaking to the General Synod, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said there was ‘no doubt’ that the Church of England was still ‘deeply institutionally racist’. The national church has established an Anti- Racism Taskforce , and in 2021 will set up an Archbishop’s Commission on Racial Equality. The Commission will address the justified anger surrounding the continuation of structures of racism and racial injustice within church institutions 3 Ibram X. Kendi, How to Be an Antiracist Penguin Random House, 2019 Being anti-racist is not the same as simply not being racist. It is not enough as a diocese to not be racist but to actively counter, disrupt and oppose racial injustice. This isn’t an easy task, it takes introspection as well as continued intentional action and is not a static description of ourselves. We are not anti-racist because we have a charter, we are anti-racist when we act against racism in individual situations. Page 1 of 7 Black Lives and Black Voices Matter George Floyd’s death escalated the Black Lives Matter4 (BLM) protests of the USA into a worldwide movement demanding racial justice now. This also catalysed individual and societal institutions in the UK, government, civil society and the wider church intensify the long overdue work to bring about racial justice5 and reconciliation. Any tolerance of inequality on grounds of race devalues God's creation, and churches undertook once again to confront the sinful reality of persistent and pernicious racism in their structures. There is much to repent of and still much work to do. As a diocese, Southwark is very aware of the way in which the concerns of Black Lives Matter touches every aspect of church life, our leadership and governance and our buildings and their history. We believe that the local parish and national church institutions should play a leading role in changing our structures to ensure they value and represent people of all ethnicities and backgrounds. In the diocese we have been trying to make changes to our structures and processes for the past 20 years. After the publication of the 2000 report on institutional racism in the structures of the Diocese of Southwark, we committed ourselves to implementing the report findings and work to address racism and justice6.
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